Jeff Duguay

• Clucker Books

Jeff grew up in rural Turner, Maine. Pretty much other than his college years, he’s always had chickens and geese running around the yard. Jeff began showing poultry in his early teens but didn’t have much success in the showroom. This was primarily because he didn’t have a clue what he was doing. He still had a great time and kept showing none-the-less.

After receiving three college degrees, B.S. in Wildlife Biology from Unity College, M.S. in Ecology from Eastern Kentucky University, Ph.D. in Ornithology/Wildlife Management from West Virginia, Jeff finally got back into exhibition poultry. Jeff has raised primarily Modern Game bantams for exhibition but also showed large fowl Langshan for a short time and currently has a few Red Naked Neck bantams.

Not only does Jeff get great joy from showing poultry, but he also loves writing books on exhibition poultry. Jeff’s first book, published in 2021, is “Breeding and Showing Modern Game Bantams: Making it to Champion Row.” He has also published books on Old English Game Bantams, Silkies, Belgian d’Uccles, Cochins, Sebrights/Belgian d’Anvers, Crested Breeds (Crevecoeur, Houdan, Polish, Sultan), as well as one titled “Bantams: A Decade of Winners” where he covers a decade of winning breeds/varieties for each of the seven classes of exhibition bantams. The Old English Game book has been translated into Spanish.

The idea behind the breed specific books is to provide an easy-to-understand source for those new to exhibition poultry or to a breed in general. Each of these books is written such that someone new to the world of exhibition poultry, even youth exhibitors, can open up a copy and learn what it is that judges are looking for in show birds. To accomplish this, Jeff has partnered with breed experts. Each book covers the traits specific to the breed with simple explanations and LOTS of pictures comparing what the trait should and should not look like. In these books they also cover information on disqualifications, breeding strategies, housing, preparing the birds for a show, how to get into showing if you are new, etc. All of this information is specific to the breed(s) being covered in the book.

Jeff plans to continue writing poultry books for as long as his typing fingers hold out. He’s currently writing "Parasites, Diseases, and Disorders of Poultry: How to Recognize and Treat” with Howard Davenport. After that, he’s planning on writing “Breeding and Showing the Italian Breeds: Ancona, Buttercup, Leghorn” with poultry judges Steven Beaty and Brian Caraker. 

To learn more about Jeff’s books visit his website at www.cluckerbooks.com